Romance Scam: Australia Police arrest Nigerian man who posed as US soldier and allegedly scammed woman out of $370,000 (photos)

A Nigerian man dwelling in Queensland, Australia has been arrested and charged after allegedly posing as a United States soldier on-line and forming a romantic relationship with a 34-year-old woman who despatched him $370,000 all within the title of love.

Cosmos Emeh, 32, appeared within the Brisbane Magistrates Courtroom on Friday, the place it was revealed he had additionally been accused of attempting to get the sufferer to ship him an additional $170,000 earlier than officers swooped and arrested him at his Durack residence on Thursday.

Mr Emeh, who is in Australia on a pupil visa, allegedly obtained the cash over the course of three months from the 34-year-old Brisbane woman, who later contacted police and sparked the investigation.

Based on his defence lawyer, the accused has been in Australia for 2 years, has no legal historical past, is learning a certificates of city and environmental planning at Griffith College and already holds a bachelor diploma.

He had rented a Durack residence along with his accomplice, a everlasting citizen, since coming into the nation.

Based on his defence lawyer, Mr Emeh claimed the SIM card he was discovered with, allegedly related to the telephone quantity used to ask the sufferer for cash, had solely been in his possession since Thursday after it was despatched to him.

The court docket heard Mr Emeh denied understanding the sufferer previous to Thursday, having any contact along with her on the web, being the instigator of the connection or understanding he was concerned in a rip-off.

Nevertheless, Mr Emeh conceded that he might look suspicious within the circumstances, his lawyer mentioned.

Police will allege the woman turned concerned with Mr Emeh on a social media platform in October 2018 whereas he was claiming to be a US soldier in Syria.

“Over the course of the next months, the sufferer was groomed into believing the tales offered by the legal and shaped a web-based romantic relationship,” a police spokesman mentioned, earlier than the man confronted court docket.

“The sufferer despatched over $200,000 to the ‘US soldier’ by way of a collection of transfers by a cash switch service.”

Previous to his court docket look, police issued a public warning after uncovering a “disturbing aspect” throughout the alleged rip-off. They claimed the accused – appearing as an agent for the soldier he was allegedly impersonating – travelled to the sufferer’s residence to gather one other $105,000.

In court docket, prosecutors alleged Mr Emeh had obtained a complete of $370,000 from the sufferer.

Detective Superintendent Terry Lawrence of the state crime command’s monetary and cyber crime group mentioned the alleged rip-off was frequent worldwide.

“The US Military Legal Investigation Command receives a whole bunch of complaints a month from folks who discover themselves concerned in a web-based relationship with somebody purporting to be a US soldier,” he mentioned.

“Normally the offender’s interplay with the sufferer is all on-line so this additional step of travelling to the sufferer’s house is definitely one thing we want the general public to listen to and be warned of at present.”

Detective Inspector Vince Byrnes, of the identical squad, mentioned these have been the primary allegations he knew of {that a} scammer had met with their sufferer in individual to gather cash.

“On this case, the disturbing growth is an individual attending the tackle … the character of this rip-off makes it completely different,” he mentioned.

“They claimed to be an agent appearing on behalf and by prearrangement between the alleged US soldier and the sufferer.”

Inspector Byrnes alleged as soon as the romantic relationship was established, the accused spoke about importing property into Australia.

“It might have been held up in relation to a customs or a income concern related to that and that individual didn’t have entry to funds,” he instructed reporters.